


Calling In A Favour

by sunlian



Category: Mass Effect (Video Game), Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: (and it works), Bad Flirting, F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gift Giving, Pre-Relationship, awkward bird man with painfully obvious crush tries flirting the only he knows how;, by buying the girl a gun, unknowing and reluctant wingman shep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 10:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13832169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunlian/pseuds/sunlian
Summary: Nine times out of ten, Garrus is terrible at getting gifts for people. Certainly not for lack of trying, there’s just some things he knows a lot more about.Like guns, and Tali, and guns that Tali likes.





	Calling In A Favour

**Author's Note:**

> since it’s not femslash feb anymore im legally allowed to post this
> 
> talibrations is a good ship and you all should love it more

“You want a _what?”_

“A shotgun. Specifically, one that’s slightly illegal in Citadel space,” Garrus rolls his eyes and tilts his head at his friend and commander, “You should probably get your hearing checked while you’re ashore.”

Dany leans against the walls of the battery, fixing him with a quirked eyebrow and a mildly suspicious glance.

“I heard, I just had to double check. Why do you, specifically, want a shotgun?” Shepard asks, a prying edge to her confused tone, “last I checked, you liked keeping things at distance, Mr. King of the Bottle Shooters.”

Garrus ignores the comment, because he’s certain, at least 96% sure that she did not hear that particular conversation, and that’s just a mild jab at him, part of their usual back-and-forth, and makes an effort to appear nonchalant.

“Had a thought about expanding my horizons is all. Not letting myself getting bogged down in old habits and patterns.”

“Uh huh,” comes the dull and unconvinced reply.

_Now or never,_ Garrus thinks, trying to keep his mandibles from twitching into a smirk.

“And you know, speaking about the past, and not wanting to get bogged down in it, I couldn’t help but notice our mutual friend Jimmy Vega wondering aloud about how you broke your nose,” he comments, as casually and disinterested as possible, enjoying the subtle shift in Dany’s expression, from mild suspicion to a dread kind of surprise, “and I thought myself, ‘that’s an old story now.’”

He knows he’s getting somewhere when she pushes off the wall, arms folding into a very defensive stance.

“I mean, none of the original crew find it funny in the slightest, and we certainly don’t get a good laugh out of it at least once a week. And it definitely didn’t spawn a collection of beloved inside jokes,” it’s very hard to stop himself from grinning now. Who would’ve thought that one the single most embarrassing moments of his dear friends’ life would come in so handy one day?

“This is blackmail,” Shepard says blankly, glaring at him half-heartedly “pure unadulterated blackmail.”

“That is such an ugly word,” Garrus drawls, false hurt dripping from every word, “I’d say it’s more… a favour for a favour. I get a new gun, and you get to avoid a James Vega who’s just learned that the first human Spectre smashed her face into a door frame while trying to be suave.”

Shepard pinches the bridge of her nose, brow furrowing in frustration before sighing, rolling her eyes and throwing her arms up in defeat.

“Fine, I’ll buy you the damn shotgun, on the condition that one, you pay me back and two, that this conversation never happened.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” He replies, mandibles flaring in the smuggest way possible, purposely ignoring whatever Shepard mumbled at him as she left the forward battery.  
———  
Garrus wires the credits that afternoon, and the following morning, as the ship prepares to depart from the Citadel, he finds a small hard case on his weapon bench, stamped with the Spectre symbol and a yellow note stuck to the top, a 8-digit code scrawled on it. Presumably for the electronic lock on the side.

With a couple of beeps, the case opens with a hard series of clicks, opening up to reveal the golden gun itself; a brand new, literally shiny M-11 Wraith. The gun is on standby currently, folded up for convenience. Unmodded as well, he notes quietly. Perfect.

Now he just has to wait.  
———  
The shooting range that Shepard installed into the shuttle bay is probably one of Garrus’ favourite things about the SR-2. Easy to set up and put away, with targets that can be moved as far or as close as the shooter wants, in addition to fully customisable targets, it was definitely a sound investment. Perfect for practice, and for showing off.

Like right now.

Garrus is big enough that what he’s doing right now is showing off, plain and simple. The Indra in his hands thunders as it fires burst after burst of automatic fire into the shadowy outline of a cutout Cerberus trooper at the far end of the bay. Truthfully, he’s not a fan of the full-auto sniper rifle; call him a traditionalist, but it’s just not what sniper rifles are a supposed to do.

Still, as he fiddles with the controls to bring the target back in and the veritable gaping hole he’s made in the head of the fake enemy, he can’t help but feel a swell of pride.

One that instantly doubles when a low vaguely synthesised whistle reaches his ears.

“I thought you were going to wait till I finished up in Engineering,” Tali says, walking up to his side and inspecting the shot up target.

“Yes well,” Garrus clears his throat and swallows a little harder than he would’ve like to, “I didn’t know how much work you had to finish. Besides that’s only one clip.”

For emphasis, he ejects the spent clip, the gun hissing and steaming briefly, before reloading and re-cocking the rifle.

Tali hums, examining the gun for a brief moment before he folds up and switches to his standard; the modified Viper that had carried him through countless messy and violent encounters.

“I thought you hated the Indra,” she states, hopping up onto the smaller barrier set up.

“Hate’s a very strong word, but yeah, it’s not my favourite,” He moves over slightly, lining up with the middle target, incredibly conscious of Tali’s eyes on him. Is her staring always that intense, because of the mask, or he just partially susceptible to it?

His first shot fires off with an echoing bang, hitting the painted-on trooper right in the throat.

“But, we all have to train with weapons we aren’t particular fond with from time to time.”

Tali scoffs, “You don’t need to tell me. Cerberus engineer bosh’tet…”

“Gun still broken?”

Tali makes a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, making Garrus chuckle just as he pulls the trigger, sending his shot wide. Well, wide for him; not as dead center as he wanted.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. Hope overcharging his Omnitool to ruin my shotgun with overload was worth it.”

Another shot. This one takes out the targets’ shielding.

“Considering that his efforts got him a hole in his head, I’d chance a guess and say that it wasn’t,” Garrus shrugs, lining up what should be the killshot.

“Hah, very true. Thanks for that, by the way.”

Garrus fires one last time, ripping through the target, leaning back from his scope and lowering the rifle with a satisfied nod.

“Oh, don’t mention it. Nothing I’m not used to,” he says with a flare of his mandibles, tilting his head in Tali’s direction, who tilts her head in return in curiosity, “you know; swooping in and saving the day.”

“Of course you are,” she replies, and he thinks he can make out her eyes rolling from behind the tinted mask, “I don’t know why I was ever worried about my gun blowing up; after all, I have Archangel watching my back, don’t I?”

Was that teasing? Is she teasing him? Is she allowed to do that?

_I was doing so well_ , Garrus laments internally. _Okay, don’t focus on that. Don’t focus on how much you liked her calling you ‘Archangel.’ You can recover from this, Vakarian._

“Heh, ah… hmm. Ahem. Well. Yes.”

_Recover better._

“Actually, speaking of guns, or a lack thereof, I think I might have a solution to your shotgun problems,” he gets out, only clearing his throat a little at the end.

“ _Problem_ ,” Tali insists, “Singular. I was able to save the mods on it after all,” she says, “and if your solution is training with a random gun for hours and hours, I’ll hit you. Really hard.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Garrus chuckles, walking away from the barricade and towards the weapons bench, “in fact, I was so dedicated to not getting hit that I came up with an even better idea.”

As he reaches behind the bench, he hears Tali approach, standing beside him.

“A better idea?”

“Well, I hope so,” he replies, straightening back up with the black case in his hand, placing it on the bench and stepping to the side ever so slightly, gesturing with a twitch of his mandibles.

Tali eyes him, then the case, back to him and then finally on the case. When his face (hopefully) doesn’t give anything else away, she shrugs and pops the electronic locks on the deep black box.

And gasps.

“Garrus… how did you…”

“Pulled a few strings, called in a favour or two,” he says with a shrug, trying his very damn hardest not show just how happy he is right now.

Tali grabs the M-11, unfolding the golden gun with a series of familiar mechanical clicks. It’s pretty large in her hands, but it’s nothing she can’t handle.

“What kind of favours did people owe to get you something like this? And so quickly as well?” Surprise and delight shine from Tali’s voice, checking over the details of the gun with barely contained excitement.

She looks like she’s about to start bouncing. That would be adorable.

“I have some pull, you know. A couple of people have in fact heard of me.”

Tali looks at him, eyes bright, somehow even brighter than they usually are, crinkled up with joy. She must be beaming behind the mask.

Garrus bets it looks perfect.

“Thank you, Garrus. Really I- I honestly don’t know what to say!”

“Well uh,” he clears his throat, fighting the urge to scratch the back of his head, “you were due for a upgrade anyways.”

The light in Tali’s eyes turns into wicked delight.

“Absolutely. I’m going to upgrade and mod this gun, and then I’m going to kick your butt to the end of the shooting range and back.”

Garrus barks out a loud laugh.

“I would _pay_ to see that.”

 


End file.
